MCG, Gurugram health dept to start ops to curb spread of dengue, malaria in 10 days: Officials

The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG), and the district health department have increased anti-larvae and fumigation operations following a surge in the dengue cases since 2020

The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG), and the district health department have increased anti-larvae and fumigation operations following a surge in the dengue cases since 2020. Several heads of these departments have given formal training to about 110 officials from the MCG and the health department for the operations in the past two days.

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We want to kick-start the operations within the next 10 days, said the officials.

According to the officials, the health department is changing its strategy this year, and will recommend hospitals to carry out malaria and dengue tests for patients displaying common vector-borne symptoms such as high fever so that early diagnosis can help in taking preventive measures at the earliest.

“The cases were much higher in 2020 as compared to 2019. We don’t want the trend to continue in 2021 and want to turn it around. So, we are starting preventive measures in advance. We aim to start taking anti-vector-borne measures on the ground within the next 10 days,” said Dr Ram Prakash Rai, district epidemiologist.

Usually, the MCG and health department start such operations during May-end, before the pre-monsoon showers. About 51 dengue cases and four malaria cases were reported in 2020, and 22 dengue cases and 15 malaria cases in 2019.

“Apart from keeping a check in the dengue cases, we also want to follow preventive measures taken last year. The lowest number of malaria cases have been reported in the past five years. The strategies for dengue and malaria are different, so we will make arrangements accordingly,” said Rai.

Meanwhile, no chikungunya cases have been reported in Gurugram since 2018.

Malaria is caused by mosquitoes that breed in dirty water, while dengue is caused by mosquitoes that breed in cleaner water. “We will identify areas where accumulation of water is common, especially during the monsoon season, and allocate our resources accordingly,” Rai added.

Following the coronavirus-imposed national lockdown in 2020, the MCG and the district health department officials, too, took conventional measures like anti-larvae and fumigation operations to curb the spread of dengue and malaria, and put kerosene in collected water pools, introduced gambusia fish that feed on mosquito larvae in water bodies on large-scale in July.

Based on the cases reported in 2020, the MCG officials are mapping areas — such as Wazirabad village — where the highest number of cases were reported and deputing more officials in such areas. “We will have a clearer idea of the areas from where cases have emerged through mapping. It is likely that localised accumulation of rainwater and drainage overflow are prevalent there, which lead to mosquito breeding. Once we identify the locations, we will depute more teams to those areas with hand-held fogging machines, and gambusia fish among others,” said a senior MCG official.

In 2020, the MCG and the health department officials had found larvae from over 1,600 houses. Following which two new hatcheries were created for breeding gambusia fish in Wazirabad and Pataudi last year. Prior to this, the city had one gambusia hatchery in the district malaria office.